A Complete Dictionary of Astrology

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COMPLETE

of Mtroloo, in

Which

Every TECHNICAL and ABSTRUSE TERM BELONGING TO THE SCIENCE IS MINUTELY AND CORRECTLY EXPLAINED,

AND THE

VARIOUS SYSTEMS AND OPINIONS OF

THE MOST APPROVED AUTHORS CAREFULLY COLLECTED AND ACCURATELY DEFINED. COMPRISING

The only rational Method of calcu-| The Judgment of Revolutions, lating NATIVITIES, according, Progressions,Ingresses, Tran­ to the Placidian System. I sits, and Lunations Embolismic The whole Art of bringing up or Quadrate. DIRECTIONS, both Primary) The Doctrine of HORARY QUES­ and Secondary. |j TIONS complete. DIVESTED OF THEIR

EXTRAVAGANCE,

CONTRADICTIONS,

AND ABSURDITIES. THE WHOLE ILLUSTRATED AND EXPLAINED

BY FAMILIAR EXAMPLES AND DIAGRAMS.

By JAMES WILSON, Esq. Philomath.

Uoniion: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM HUGHES, ISLINGTON GREEN, AND SOLD BY SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, PATERNOSTER-ROW, AND BY ALL OTHER BOOKSELLERS.—1 819.

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ERRATA. p. xvi. 1. 16, for their fluid read this fluid. p. xviii. 1. 37, for quadripartiZe read quadripartite. p. 5,1. 2, a comma misplaced. p. 13, last line but one, read a £1 in the east is hot and dry.” p. 44,1. 4, after Q right ascension’ add ‘ of the midheaven.’ p. 83, 1. 44, read 6 and the ££ renders them weaker in proportion.’ p. 85, 1. 21, read a powerful influence. / p. 92, 1. 4, for ‘ ardent’ read ‘cadent? p. 98, 1. 44, leave out ‘ therefore.’ p. 114, 1. 10, read c right distance of the aspect,’and in the last line read ‘ Q’s right distance.* p. 115, 1. 4 from the bottom, read ‘ the mundane^ of $.’ p. 128,1. 37, for 23° 27Q read 23° 27'. p. 136,1.12,read ‘danger of the native’s being a murderer.’ p. 156, 1. 41, readQ to the east or west of him.’ ' p. 170, last line but one * read ‘ good servants.’ p. 172,1. ^for 6 grave’ read ‘ grey.’ p. 173, 1. 19, for ‘read’ read ‘ red.’ p. 178,1. 30,’for ‘her voyages’ read ‘ by voyages.’ p. 189, 1. 21, for ‘ they’ read ‘ he.’ p. 195, 1. 10, for ‘the square’ read ‘the semiquadrate.’ p. 223, 1. 31 & 32, for ‘ fortune’ read ‘ fortunes.’ p, 235, 1. 13, insert a commd, after ‘ ascendant.’ ditto, 1. 37, for ‘infortune’ read ‘infortunes.’ p. 238, 1. 25, for ‘ to credit’ read ‘ to his credit? p. 243, 1. 5, for ‘lords of the 1st’ read ‘lords of the 1st and 2d. p. 270,1. 41, for ‘ mean’ read means.’ p. 272, 1 9, for ‘ nocturnal hours’ read ‘ natural hours? p. 281,1. 17, for ‘ oriental’ read ‘ matutine? p. 302,1. 40, for ‘be’ read ‘by? p. 305,1. 28 & 29, leave out the ‘ and if? p. 309, 1. 39, read ‘ the luminaries? p. 316, 1. 38, for ‘ is’ read ‘ in? p. 321,1. 40, for ‘ by’ read ‘ but? p. 356, 1. 5, read ‘ the lights? x , p. 377, 1. 9, read ‘ benefics? p. 382,1. 17, for ‘ or the malefics’ read ‘ of the &c? p. 383, 1. 15, for ‘ allowed’ read ‘ allotted,’ and 1. 25, for ‘ the disgrace’ read ‘ their disgrace? p. 369,1. 27, after ‘ fair’ read ‘ or according to others?’ p. 407,1. 33, after ‘ winter,’ read ‘ snow?

PREFACE. IF I had any motive more prominent than the rest (beyond promoting the cause of truth, which, I trust, will always be the principal) for publishing this w ork, it was a desire to injure those harpies who gather together scarce books of science, and hide them from the perusal of man­ kind, merely for the sake of gain, which, after all, can be bitt trifling. Men like these are the enemies of knowledge, and ought to be severely punished in every civilized nation. This treatise will render most of their hoards comparatively useless, for I have been careful to insert the substance of all they contain, whether true or false (adding occasionally some remarks of my own to distinguish the latter as far as I am able), that every student may be enabled to found his own conviction on his own experience.

The System of Directions, both Primary and Secondary, I flatter myself, will be found peculiarly useful, for they are plain, and may be comprehended in a moment. They comprize the entire system of Placidus, not only as to Directions, but of Progressions, Transits, Ingresses, and Lunations; In this work no system has been wholly rejected on ac­ count of its evident falsehood and absurdity, but all are in­ cluded, investigated, and explained.

The most prominent parts are selected from the works of Ptolemy and Placidus, the first being the founder of most or all the systems at present known, and the latter is universally admitted to have been the most scientific and rational of all Ptolemy’s successors. I have therefore been careful to include all his opinions, which may be done without great difficulty in a small compass, as he was a very circumlocutive author, who often took a page to de­ scribe what might have been compressed into half a dozen lines. His works, however, on the whole, are valuable, particularly his directions both primary and secondary,

iv

PREFACE,

which I have here presented to the reader divested of their obscurity, and difficulty. The intention of this work is to render every point in astrology as plain and familiar as possible, that the science may be open to examination and experience, both in its genethliacal and horary departments, and that numbers may have an opportunity of applying themselves to the study of it, which is the only means of demonstrating the truth it contains.

As to the ridiculous idea, that it is sinful and presump­ tuous, none but a very ignorant person will entertain it for a moment. If astral observations w ere sinful, it would be criminal to foretel an eclipse, a change of w eather, the time of high w ater, or even the time of day by a sun-dial. It is, on the contrary, sinful not to study this and every other thing the almighty has allotted for instruction, and the ignorance of those who neglect to do this is their only excuse. There is one great difficulty peculiar to astrological studies, which has hitherto retarded their progress con­ siderably, and I fear will continue to do so for ages, namely, the wrant of proper materials. In all other sciences every thing necessary for practice or experiment can in general be readily procured, whereas proper nativities of persons born with any remarkable defect are seldom to be obtained. A chemist can make a thousand combinations at will, and a thousand experiments on each, whereas an astrologer might pass the period of his life without being able to make a single experiment in the way he could wish, and he might think himself extremely fortunate if he ever acquired six remarkable nativities, that w ere correctly taken, and the lives of the persons annexed to them. The time of a birth is seldom known beyond the hour, and if it betaken to minutes, the minute is almost sure to be incorrect. If a remarkable character be discovered, the birth of such a person is nearly as difficult to be obtained as the philoso­ pher’s stone. The time of conception cannot be expected, nor the time when the embryo quickened, and yet, doubt­ less, on these depend many, and perhaps most of those events, the causes whereof are sought in the radix. Instead, therefore, of wondering why so little is known relative to genethliacal astrology, we may well be surprized that any thing is know n. It is not impossible, that the nature and

PREFACE.

v

fate of an animal are fixed long before it breathes the vital air, and although its separation must occasion considerable alteration, the birth is in all probability only a sympathetic event, depending on other antecedent circumstances, and particularly on the position and distance of the luminaries at the time of conception. In horary questions I have laid down the plain funda­ mental rules from which an artist should judge, but his own practice will enable him by an adherence to these, to do this in a way peculiar to himself; for although these rules cannot with safety or propriety be altered, they are capable of many trifling improvements, which the student’s practice will suggest to him, and which no one but himself can either feel or describe. He should never employ his art but for his own benefit, or that of his most confidential friends. In this case, he will have some additional assistance in his knowledge of their affairs, but in applying this he must be very cautious, and never quit his figure for a moment: if he abandon his science, it will abandon him. The know­ ledge of leading circumstances is only useful to enable him to judge of some abstruse parts of his scheme which other­ wise would be unintelligible, but if he prefers his know­ ledge to his figure he is an impostor, and will soon feel the effects of his knavery and folly : for foresight will often err, but his figure never ; and however prosperous the affairs of the querent may appear in his judgment, if the figure denote evil, that evil will surely arrive, to his disgrace and con­ fusion. In other respects he may be apt to err through a weakness common to human nature, that of believing what we wish, and not seeing what we dread. He must guard against this as much as possible, and give every testimony its full force. It is useless to blink the evil, for if the figure declare it, it will certainly occur, and the more he or his friends are prepared against it the better. Where mischief cannot be avoided, or where the knowledge of impendingevil would greatly alarm the party, he should conceal his knowledge, and, if any good can be done, rather strengthen them by advice, than terrify them by predictions. Indeed, those are the wisest artists who keep their knowledge to themselves as much as possible : for they may serve their friends more effectually by concealing the source of their information.

A table of declinations for the present ecliptical obliquity of 23’ 28' has long been w anted, and therefore I have made

VI

PREFACE.

one to that obliquity, which will be found in the tables be­ longing to this work. I ha ve also, under the article cc Tri­ gonometrical Calculations,” enabled every student to find by­ trigonometry, his right and oblique ascensions, declinations, longitudes, latitudes, &c., without the help of tables, pro­ vided the requisite number of terms be given to find the rest.

The tables belonging to this work will appear as soon as possible, and at all events they will not be later than Ja­ nuary next. I have here to apologize for sometimes using the terms a attraction” and Cc gravitation,” as the reader will soon discover that I believe in neither : but they are terms generally understood, as when we say, the Sun rises or sets, although we know that he only appears and disappears by the Earth’s motion, and under these circumstances we consider such expressions as innocent and convenient ab­ surdities. All that now remains, is to caution the reader against those shallow characters, who think by rule and judge by hearsay. Before he attempts to answer any of their objec­ tions, let him give them a date, and tell them to erect a figure to it, and bring up a direction or two. When he finds they know nothing of the matter, as he soon will, his best way will be to adopt the Pythagorean method of cure, and eqjoin them silence until they do, and if they comply with this request, it will probably silence them for ever. Should he, however, be of a more mercurial turn, and fond of amusing himself with the absurdities of others, 1 know not where he could find better game, for, like Yorick, with all their sail, he’ll not find them carry an ounce of ballast.

The most ignorant among them will be the nio^’t consist­ ent, and consequently the most respectable; for, those who have acquired a tolerable share of learning will be found to have acquired self-sufficiency in an equal ratio, and they will be always ready to expose themselves if he hold up his finger. A number of these wiseacres, some of whom, to the disgrace of literature, were permitted to write for an encyclopedia, once took it in their heads, probably at the instigation of some wag, to settle at once .the long disputed point, of whether the Moon had any influence on the wea­ ther or not^ they had heard somewhere that the lunar infiuence was most conspicuous at the change or full, and it

PREFACE.

«• V1L

happening’ then to be near the change (which may in some degree account for their folly) they sallied forth with an almanack in one hand and a weather-glass in the other, to see what impression would be made in the latter, at the moment of conjunction. No doubt, they had predetermined to sell their prejudices as dear as possible, dnd to be con­ vinced at no less price than some of those tremendous con­ vulsions of nature which took place at the demolition of Friar Bacon’s brazen head. Alas, and a well-a-day for as­ trology, the mercury remained stationary, not the smallest difference whatever could be perceived, the Moon was non­ suited, and the jury returned in triumph, singing is supposed to be a third of that of. the Eartli.’ Iler motion on her axis coincides with her periodical revolution round the Earth, so that the same side of her is always next to us. Her periodical revolu­ tion in making the complete circle of the globe is c27d.‘7h. 43m. 5s.', and her synodical revolution from the Suh1 io the Sun again is 2Qd. 1271.' 44m. 3s. 1 li. She flies al the rate of 2290 miles ah hour, and her day aiid night are as long as our lunar month. Iler position,'however, is not' so steady, for she turns sometimes a small pari of her'face from us on on6 side or the oilier, which is called her libration, and sometimes she pre­ sents a part of 'one pole or the other. The surface of the Moon exhibits a number of hills, mountains,caverns, craters, volcanoes, &e. Some have disputed the existence of a lunar at­ mosphere, but'the ingenious Schroeter, having discovered a twilight? in Venus, discovered one shortly after in the Moon, ou tlie 24th of February, 1792, which of course is a proof that she has an atmosphere.' Her axis inclines to her orbit 88° 1?', and her mean apparent diameter is 31' 8". The planet OURANOS was discovered by Herschel, March 1311), 17,8 T. His distance from the Suit is 1,827,000,000 of miles, his mean diameter 35,000 miles, and liis period 83//. 150d. 18Zi. He has six satellites mov­ ing round him in a retrograde direction; or from cast to west, contrary to all others. The existence of this planet was partly anticipated before its discovery by Dis. Halley, Bradley, and others, who observed that Saturn was disturbed in his motion by some force-which’ they concluded must originate beyond his orbit, asthey could not account for it on the known principles of gravitation. The planet Ouranos shines with a fine bluishwhite light, between that of Venus and the Moon, and appears the size of a star of the Sih magnitude. liis mean apparent diameter is 3.54": CERES was discovered January 1st, 1801, by Piazzi, an Italian. Her mean distance from the Sun is about 260,000,000 of miles, and her revo­ lution round him is performed in 16S1 d. Y2h. Qm. her diameter according to Herschel is 163miles, but Schroeter supposes it to be ten times as much. Her mean apparent diameter is 1". . ’ PALLAS was discovered bv Dr. Olbcrs of Bremen,- March 26111,9 802. Her mean distance from the Sun is 265,000,000 of miles, and her period 1703d. 16/i. 48>»l Herschel estimates her diameter al 80 miles, and Schro­ eter (a very good astronomer) at 2099. Her mean apparent diameter is 1". JUNO vias discovered by Harding, a Gcrman, iir December, JS04. Her solar distance is252,000,000 miles, and her period 41/. IQQd.dh. Iler diameter is estimated at 1425 miles, and her mean apparent diameter is 3". VESTA was also discovered by Olbcrs in 1807. Ilcr'solar distance is 225,000,000 miles, and her period 3///60d. 4/i. Iler diameter is estimated, at 238 miles. . Iler mean apparent diameter is only half a second.

INTRODUCTION.

xv

The EARTH we inhabit is distant-from the Sun, some say 96, others 98, and others 100 millions of miles, its period is 365(1. 5h. 48m. 48-?. and it. moves at the rate of 68,856 miles an hour. - Its rotation on its axis from west to east, is completed in about 24/i. Hence.the inha­ bitants of London are moved by the diurnal motion 580; miles, and those of the equator 1042 miles an hour. The-difference between the planes of its ecliptic and equator1 is 23-° 28'. nearly. Its mean diameter is 7953 miles,But its equatorial diameter is 17 miles more, and its polar17 less. ; COMETS are generally considered as opake bodies, of the same sub­ stance as the planets, and only differing from them in the eccentricity of their orbits. They are called comets -from Coma, hair, or beams of light, because their, rays in many cases look as if;they were hairy or bearded, but this arises from the appearance of the tail in different positions, it* is remarkablethat their tails al ways flow in an opposite direction from the Sun, the cause of which has never been properly explained, although it has been the subject of many conjectures among the learned, who have been equally unfortunate.respecting the parabolic curve of their orbits,to solve which that, contradictory doctrine of two forces, the centripetal and centrifugab(neither of which is founded either on experience or rea-; son) is called in to their assistance. . I know of no one who has exposed this unmeaning.paradox with more acuteness than'Mr. Brydone, in bis Tour to Sicily and Malta, which.I would, advise the advocates of this system to peruse with attention. However mortifying it may be to hu­ man pride to be told;that what they are.pleased to term“ inert matter” is not more inert or less animated than themselves, such nevertheless is tire fftet, and it is Time! they became acquainted with it. There is no such thing as inert matterevery particle is endowed with life, intelligence, and volition ; and its motions, whether, circular or parabolic, are the re­ sult of choice, and not of blind necessity. Every orb is an animal, mov­ ing-round its primary,-for'reasons which however impenetrable.-they may be to us, rfre.well-known to itself, and turning 011 its axis as a.man would turn on his heel, before.a fire to warm himself on all sides. Nothing demonstrates the force of prejudice more than the doctrine that matter has always a .tendency to be,at rest. The very reverse is the truth: for if matter possess any quality more prominent than another, it is that of the singular and almost incredible volocity with which it continually moves. There is not ail atom on this our globe but moves at the astonishing rate of about 69,900 miles an.hour, besides its, diurnal mation round its axis, and even this velocity may be almost actual rest compared to its real mo­ tion, if, as some have with good reason supposed, the system itself revolves round some other center. In ancient times men, deceived by appearances, believed the Earth to be stationary, and that the heavens alone moved; that the Sun and other stars proceeded to the westward by day, and were brought, back in the night in some way or other, but by what means they did not know, just as an infant placed in a boat on a river, would suppose the land moved, and that the boat was fixed. On this optical delusion only was founded the silly notion that matter is inanimate and motionless, and such is the prevalence of habit, that it actually, separat es knowledge from knowledge, and causes a man to believe that a thing can, and can not, exist at the same moment of time. Hence astronomers believe1, becaue they see and know, that matter and motion are inseparable, and that no particle of it ever was or can be at rest; while, at the same time, they-believe that it is -perfectly inert, dead, averse to motion, and always at rest. Such is the strength of prejudice and the weakness of humanity.

kvi

INTRODUCTION.

The number of opinions respecting Comets are too nuhrerotis to be inserted. Those of Newton seem to confirm the truth of the Shandean opinion, that “ it is worth something to have a name.” Hevelius and Kepler supposed them to proceed from some gross exhalations of the Sun, and some very lately have considered them the embryos of future planets. They are certainly different from planets, although doubtless they are masses of matter reflecting the solar light. Their bodies are changeable, both in magnitude and appearance, and no way resembling stars of any description. Their colours are sometimes red, sometimes yellow, generally dusky, divided into parts, and sometimes the nucleus wholly disappearsand seems converted into a thin cloudy matter. They appear to be substances positively and highly electrified, and the opinion of Halley and Dr. Hamilton, that their tails are composed of electric fluid,' iS very probable. This seems fully confirmed by the flashing or shooting Of their^tails. Whatever warmth they may derive from the abundance of their finifl added to the heat they acquire from the action of the Sun (which probably after all is not much) is all the heat they experience, and this the reader may rest assured is not quite two thousand limes greater than the heat of red hot iron. It is lamentable that men who have genius should guide it with so loose a rein. The vagaries of Mr. Whiston, too, have been a source of alarm to many, whom I would advise to get rid of their fears as soon as possible. Comets and planets both, know better than to run fool of each other; nor do comets appear to possess those powers assigned to them by astronomers. ' One of them passed between some of the satellites of Jupiter without altering their positions or orbits in any perceptible degree. In other respects, however, they seem sufficiently injurious. They doubtless have a sympathetic power of action, like all other bodies of matter, and cannot fail to dis­ turb the economy of a globe not used to their influence. See the article “ Comets.” The nature and substance of the FIXED STARS has hitherto set even conjecture at defiance, for although the general supposition is, that they are suns of as many systems, there is but little in their appearance to justify such an opinion. About seven hundred of them are double, in which respect they differ from the only Sun we are acquainted with, and they exhibit various colours, chiefly white, though some are red, blue, and even greenish, and others are dusky, whereas our Sun is a compound of all those colours, and consequently they must differ from it in this par­ ticular, except we suppose their rays to pass through certain mediums which transmit only a ray of a particular colour and absorb the rest. Planets they cannot be, revolving like us round a common center, else we should see still more prominently the suns that light them. All we know of them is, that they must be bodies of some kind of matter, and as such possessing each of them a separate influence, but there is much reason to suspect the natures of their influences are nearly or wholly unknown. The only'method laid down bv Ptolemy is to class them according to their colours, and judge of their effects according to the nature of such planets as they most resemble; thus, the red are considered martial; the pale, saturnine, &c. but this is a very erroneous method, because many of them resemble no planet in colour, nor is it certain that planets operate by means of their light, for the power of the Moon is as great when her dark side is turned towards us as when she is at full. The term fixed is very inapplicable to many of the stars, and probably to them all. Several new stars have appeared, several old ones have dis­ appeared, and a still greater number change their places. One in Cas­ siopeia, in 1572, appeared as large Us Venus at her brightest perigee, and was actually seen in day-light. Lt continued so for sixteen months, and

INTRODUCTION.

xvii

flien gradually disappeared without changing its place. Some think it returns periodically in about 319 years. There is a star in the Whale’s Neck that appears and disappears seven times in six years. Another near the l ight heel of Serpentarins appeared in 1604, as large as Venus, and totally disappeared in 1605. One star in the Swan’s Neck appeared and disappeared several times, at very unequal periods, and in 1715 it settled as a star of the 6th magnitude and so remains. Another star near the Swan’s Head appeared and disappeared several times, and is now wholly last. \ in the Swan has a period of about 405 days, but not quite regular. A number of other stars have disappeared, and many change their magnitudes. Several new stars have appeared in Cassiopeia, and some of them have again been lost. One in her Knee disappeared, and two more appeared to the north of its place. Caput. Algol is a varia­ ble star, and its period is 2d. 217 *. It remains for 2d. 14/i. as a star of the 2d magnitude, in about three hours and a half it declines to a star of the 4th magnitude, and in three hours and a half more it resumes its 2d mag­ nitude, which it relains for 2d. 147 *. as before. fl in Lyra, likewise, has, a period of 12d. ltyh., during which time it appears of several magnitudes, from the 3d to the 5th. 7/in Antinous has a period of7d. 47 *. 38m. and 5 in Cepheus of 5d. 8/t. 37m. No doubt all these changes have a manifest effect on the Earth, and produce some of those strange vicissitudes, for which we are at a loss to account, and which baffle all the skill of the astrologer. The fixed stars differ in their longitudinal positions about fifty seconds and one third in a year, according to the order of the signs, or from west to east, owing to the receding of the equinoctial points from cast to west. It was generally supposed by the ancients, that the stars never changed their latitude, but the moderns have discovered this to be an error. Hal­ ley found Sirius, Aldebaran and Arcturus about half a degree more south, and Betelguese near a whole degree, but whether this arises from the proper motion of the star, or from our solar system changing its place, is uncertain. The immense distance of the fixecTstars may be conceived from their having no sensible parallax ; and their apparent magnitude not being increased but on the contrary diminished by the power of a telescope. That they are not lighted by the Suu is supposed to be evident, on ac­ count of their distance, though there does not appear any sufficient proof that light, as such, proceeds from the Sun at all, but rather that it is, like heat, created or produced by the Sun’s influence on any body of opake matter opposed to it, and that its quantity is more or less ac­ cording to the capability of such substance to produce it. Were light a luminous emanation from the Sun’s body, we should see it not only by day but also by night in its progress through the immensity of space, enclosing the Earth on all sides, whereas, even a sunbeam cannot be perceived but from the surfaces of opake atoms that reflect it. We can­ not know the boundary of the solar influence, nor is it probable that the light or heat of bodies opposed to it is wholly regulated by their distance, but rather by their fitness to receive and propagate them. We see that Mars is not so bright as Jupiter, although nearer to the Sun, nor is it probable that Jupiter or Saturn are colder than Venus or Mercury. The belts of Jupiter and Saturn give us great reason to suppose they have each an atmosphere with clouds floating in it, and we are certain no-. thing of the kind could exist on our globe with only one ninetieth of the Sun’s present heat. It is probable, therefore, that the powers of generat­ ing light and heat are in all bodies proportional to their distance from the Sun, and this supposition is equally applicable to the fixed stars as to the planets, A much better reason why the fixed stars shine by their

Kviii

INTRODUCTION!

own light, or by light derived from other sources than our Sun, is their infinity^ (which can hardly be doubted) and the little probability that such an atom could operate through boundless immensity. Many very ingenious attempts have been made to ascertain the dis­ tance of the nearest of the fixed stars, but, after all, the whole is conjec­ tural. Dr. Bradley thought the nearest would be about 40,000 l imes as * far off * as the breadth of the Earth’s orbit, or 7,600,000,000,000 of miles. Eater astronomers have supposed them much nearer; and, really, when tve reflect on the short periods in which they alter their magnitudes, as before stated, (even in the co'urse of a few hours) their velocity must be beyond human conception, if they are at such distances. , lienee some have imagined that in their rotatory motion they present various phases, which is the cause of such apparent difference in magnitude. Those stars that appear to us the largest are supposed to be the near­ est, but this is uncertain, as no doubt they differ in magnitude. That they seem to change their position by some means is evident, but Whether this appearance is the result of their own proper motion or that of oiir system, is not quite certain. Most of the phenomena may be iiccountc’d for from the latter but not the whole. Some think the stars hever ’change their relative positions with each other, as double stars Itever separate. Motion, however, is inseparable from matter, and there call be little doubt, that every system is in motion as well as our own, and whether the fixed stars are or arc not suns and centers of other systems, they probably move with great rapidity through interminable •space. Astrology is generally supposed to have been invented by the Chal­ deans, but this conjecture is only founded on their early astronomical knowledge, which they probably derived from Hiridostan, Its origin Was assuredly in the cast, where it is now universally practised and be­ lieved. The Arabs are generally supposed to have procured it from Egypt, but there can be no doubt they had a system of their own in common with other oriental nations, long before that period, though 'be this as it may, neither are of much value. What we know of it is chiefly gathered from the books of Arabian authors, and whatever as­ trology was originally, the whole appears to havc been perverted into a inere system of divination, so as Io be unfit for any genethiiacal purpose. The Quadripartite of Ptolemy, however, gives us reason to suppose that in Egypt, at least, it had once been on a more respectable footing ; though the absurdities contained in that work, mixed up with some im­ portant truths, shew that it had been long neglected, and its„prigii)al meaning almost forgotten. This may have been owing to the mean selfish policy of the Egyptians, who, to keep every one in the dark but themselves, converted all their knowledge into hieroglyphics, or tran­ scribed it in the sacred letters as they were called, which were an alphabet used by the priesthood only, the key of which being once lost, all their learning was lost with it. x /This work of Ptolemy is the only standard we possess, and has served as a foundation for every other. Some speak of it with much venera­ tion, though very few comprehend its meaning, and it is evident from the tenor of many parts, that the author did not comprehend it himself. Jt is, however, preferable to the works of the Arabians, which are the most superstitious mass of symbolical and allegorical trash that can be conceived. Many authors have written on the subject in all nations, but they chiefly adhere'to the Ptolemaic doctrines of essential dignities, lunar nodes, and horoscope; which can have no effect in nativities, and by misquoting some of his theories, the.greater part of them have contrived to -render the science truly ridiculous; but this onghtmot to deter others

INTRODUCTION.

xix

from studying it* foi * any reflecting person must perceive, that effects in general being so very disproportionate to their supposed causes, must proceed from something very different, and this can be no other than astral influence; for on what else does the whole fabric of the universe depend for its support and the laws by which it is governed. To as­ cribe the whole to the will of providence is merely an equivocation : that all events depend on the will of providence cannot be doubted, but we are alluding to secondary causes under providence, which always en­ forces its will by natural means, for we see it uses no other. Providence would be more highly honoured, if mankind would take the trouble to investigate the ingenious laws and machinery by which it governs the universe, than When they sit down and idly exclaim “ Oh, it is the will of providence” and think no more about it. We know the change of season wholly depends on planetary influence, and doubtless the changes in the weather do the same, or at least on celestial causes of some kind. They are the result of variations in the atmosphere, and although these depend on the condition of the Earth, the latter depends on the state of the heavenly bodies by which it is surrounded and affected. Brutes and insects are early sensible of these vicissitudes ; and nervous, sickly or elderly people are the same ; doors and shutters will swell or shrink, metals will contract or expand, watches will lose or gain time, stones and other substances impregnated with saline particles will sweat, and the entire face of nature becomes altered. Those alterations are frequently experienced when the Moon arrives at her quadratures, and particularly when she forms her last sextile with the Sun. Her conjunction with Mars is frequently productive of wet, especially when their latitudes agree. But the atmosphere often is liable to unusual and very lasting impressions. Some seasons are remarkable for dryness, wet, cold, heat; some are sickly; others healthy , and by these overwhelming causes even the lunar aspects are neutralized. They do indeed produce certain changes, but such as are weak and of short duration. When particular diseases abound, they are usually ascribed to heat, cold, wet, See. but a little reflection would shew the incorrect­ ness of such opinions; for at other times, when heat, cold, &c. are much more prevalent, such diseases are unknown. The observation of certain persons, that they catch cold they know not how, is extremely just; for although colds are often caused by carelessness, they are more frequently the result of an altered state of the atmosphere from sideral causes, against which no precaution is available, and many who en­ counter cold and wet without sustaining any injury, will catch cold in a room without being exposed to either. Nothing can be a stronger proof of sideral influence than the strange succession of fortunate and unfortunate events experienced by many individuals. The whole lives of some are a succession of disasters, and all their exertions terminate in disappointment. Injudicious conduct no doubt will produce misfortunes, but many to whom no blame can be attached are injured and ruined by a strange coincidence of circum­ stances, which no human prudence could foresee or prevent. Certain times are peculiarly disasterous to certain people, and in families numbers die nearly together. This is probably owing to some resemblance in their horoscopes, a thing very common among relatives. Many of the more durable changes in the atmosphere may arise from the proximity of comets, a greater number of which approach the Earth than is geneally supposed, although they are hidden by the blaze of the Sun. They mostly cause heat and dryness, particularly in that hemis­ phere where they are posited, and as opposite changes usually succeed

XX.

INTRODUCTION.

each other, they may ultimately cause cold and wet. The luminaries', however, are the more immediate causesof sublunary vicissitudes in their mutual configurations with?each other, and with the angles, particularly when posited in the midheaven. There is something remarkable in thia angle, even when no planets are in or near it, for all vegetables will point to it by .nature, and will dwindle and waste if any substance inter­ vene between them and the. zenith. This is the reason why grass will not grow beneath trees ; animals decline from the same cause; and those who are confined in houses, or mines, or who live in woods, are pale, cadaverous, and unhealthy, however freely the air may be admitted No' portion of matter affects the Earth so much as the Moon, for besides that she by means of her proximity conveys the influences of the celestial bodies to us by her various configurations with them, much depends on her excentricity or anomaly. Nothing demonstrates the power of the Moon more than the period of gestation being g or 7 months, at which times she forms the trine or square with her radical place at conception. Children born at the end of those periods may live, whereas it is affirmed, that no infant produced in eight months,ever survived. The medium through which distant portions of matter operate on each other may probably be a very fine fluid, emanating from each through infinite space, and wholly imperceptible except by its effects. This may be denominated sympathy, and to it may be traced whatever is deemed supernatural or miraculous, or, to speak more properly, what­ ever cannot be accounted for from the known properties, or rather the acknowledged properties of mat ter, for many of its properties are known, that are not acknowledged. Locomotion, and volition, for instance, by which the planets revolve round their axes, and move through their orbits, and by which every particle gravitates toward the center of the mass to which it belongs: these are general sympathies common to all matter with which we are acquainted. But. tlie more particular or oc­ cult sympathies are those not common to matter, and apparently con­ trary to its general laws: such is the polarity and attraction of the magnet, with numberless other unusual sympathies subsisting between certain bodies, for which we cannot account in the usual way. Those marks and accidents communicable to the foetus in the womb, and the periodical alteration of such impressions according to the season of the fruit, flowers, or other substances from whence they originate, are two of the most common and striking proofs of occult sympathy that can be produced. Second sight, which, however it may be ridiculed, is too well authenticated to be disproved ; ominous dreams, and those unac­ countable forebodings and depressions of the miud, very common in persons of a nervous, weak, or irritable frame, prior to unforeseen calamities; with a number of other instances superfluous to mention, are all incontestible proofs that every thing in nature operates upon the rest, and is operated on by them more or less according to its nature and texture, in a way of which we can form no conception. This occult sympathy was and is the source of every species of divination, which, notwithstanding the silly common place gibes of imitative witlings, and the frauds of its knavish professors, is really founded in nature and truth. The mind, when anxiously and steadily fixed on knowing th£ result of an undertaking has, from the tripod to the teacup, always been gratified, if a proper intelligent system were adhered to. Cicero ridiculed the augurs, probably with reason (for there were many knaves among them) and perhaps without, for he might after all be more of an orator than a diviner, although like the Cobler of Apelles, he could not be persuaded to stick to his last. At all events, the Roman general would have shewn more solid judgment in following the line marked out to

INTRODUCTION.

XX*

him by the chickens, than he did wit in throwing them into the sea Saying. “ If they'would not eat they should drink,” for he paid the full price of his folly. Upon these sympathies of nature is founded the entire Science of Astrology, both Geuethliacal and Horary * Geuethliacal Astrology rests on the more common and obvious effects of matter on matter; for the stars cannot affect the globe without inserting their power',into every separate.portion of matter that it contains. Horary Astrology depends on that uncertain species of sympathy * which, although equally a property of matter with the other, is seen in certain modifications only. Those whose minds are ardent, whose feel­ ings are acute, and whose irritability of frame and consequent anxiety is excessive, are more subject to its operation than others, when their sen­ sibility is excited by any object or event of importance. Thus husbands sympathize with their wives; mothers with their children ; and indivi­ duals of every description with those who are peculiarly dear to them, whether they are united or not by the tics of custom or consanguinity. Those whose nerves are mote indurated, and whose sensations are,less acute, although,their attachments are equally firm, are strangers to this kind of sympathy, through nervous insensibility, and it is very natural for them to deny the existence of what they never experience, although placed in the same relative situations with those who do; hence many disputes originate concerning the truth of those unusual perceptions; but there is nothing untrue, or preternatural in them, for it is quite ac­ cording to the course of nature that animals of a peculiar conformation should have the peculiar perceptions,• sensations and powers adapted to such conformation. This is the great .secret of alldivination, which was so denominated from the supposition that it was of divine origin, * and proceeded from the gods; but it is neither divine nor diabolical, but the natural result of ,matter operating on matter, as.one planet disturbs another in its orbit, as the Moon disturbs the ocean, as the magnet draws iron, or glass excited by rubbing draws wax, &c. There is no part of judicial astrology so easily and so perfectly attain­ able as the power of solving horary questions, where nature, if proper attention be paid to her impulses, will be found to accommodate herself to every emergency, whereas in nativities the qualities and fate of an animal being regulated by the same fixed, uniform, unerring laws as the other phenomena of nature, the causes are too numerous, too complicated, and too remote, ever to be wholly comprehended, by any stretch of hu­ man intellect. Some of these are from their nature imperative, others subordinate, and the greater must always overcome the less. Thus, as Ptolemy justly observes, the same act that with a man would produce a man, would with a horse produce a horse, although the positions of the stars may be exactly the same, and both the man and horse would be in any climate, or under a particular discipline, very different from what they would have been if produced at the same instant in any other climate, or under any other mode of tuition.' Meh born with indications of a violent death, would in countries where wars and violence are un­ known^ die like others; whereas, in countries and times where Avars predominate, a very slight direction would cause an untimely end. In the former case, however, the dissoluto lives, hair-breadth escapes, aiid numerous accidents common to such ill fated and depraved characters, clearly demonstrate, that from their birth a train was laid for their de­ struction, which only awaited the concurrence of some other cause, as, for a match to;fire it :-and should confusion become the order of the day, they would be the first to rush into danger and to perish in the conflict. Indeed, this is a fact generally known (although the true cause is not sus-

INTRODUCTION.

xfcii

pected), that the most worthless and desperate characters are the most anxious to engage in violent and hazardous enterprizes. The effect, there* fore, is traced to its cause, which Cause is itself only an effect of planetary influence, as every one’s reason, were it attended to, must acknowledge for did no such thing as planetary interposition exist, men’s minds and bodies would be perfectly alike, for what could cause them to differ ? The answer will be, “ the will of providence/ I grant it: and these are the natural means used by providence to carry its will into effect.

Names of the Characters used in this 'Work.

PLANETS.

2 g ([ §

Ip’Saturn. Jupiter. (J Mars. 0 The Sun.

Aries, y Taurus. U Gemini.

8

g £ / ?

Venus. Mercury. The Moon. Ouranos;

Fallas. Ceres. Juno. Vesta.

SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC. =2: Libra. Cancer VJ Capricorni 1T[ Scorpio. X? Aquarius. SI Leo. Virgo. J Sagittarius. Pisces.

| Sextile. | 3 Conjunction.

Square. Trine.

[

& The Dragon’s Head.

$ Opposition.

The Dragon’s Tail.

© The Part of Fortune * i

Mar^s

of

Distance.

s. Signs. | 9 Degrees. | 'Minutes. | " Seconds. | '"Thirds, Or Time.

y. Years. d. Days.

I h. Hours. I m. Minutes^

1

| $. Seconds. | t. Thirds.

PLATA: 2

Fig. 14

Z5Z3